Or so AP is reporting:

President Bush has settled on Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York, to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general and will announce his selection Monday, a source familiar with the president’s decision said Sunday evening.

Mukasey, who has handled terrorist cases in the U.S. legal system for more than a decade, would become the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

Speculation is that he will be easier to confirm than Ted Olson, who was also considered to be in contention for the post. Some on both sides were itching for a confirmation battle. Earlier today Ed Morrissey had this to say on that subject:

While an argument can be made for having an argument, an equal and better argument can be made for quietly working for a candidate who will not inspire immediate partisanship. For one thing, Justice is a mess, and a smooth transition will make its recovery more quick. Also, having these partisan fights for the sake of having them does damage to political discourse and in the end achieves little more than increased rancor — especially if other candidates will push for the same policies and objectives. That’s more a knock on Congress and the Democrats, whose knee-jerk opposition to Olson is both substanceless and insulting. In the present climate, and with the administration rightly focusing its political strength on keeping the mission going on Iraq, it makes more sense to give a little on this appointment as a balance.

Of course, in today’s political climate nearly every confirmation turns in to a circus. Let’s see what shakes out after the official announcement.

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Ending months of speculation, rumor, and criticism from political opponents and GOP supporters, it is being reported that Attorny General Alberto Gonzales has resigned.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned, ending a months-long standoff with Republican and Democratic critics who called for his ouster over the Justice Department’s botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the firing of U.S. attorneys, officials said Monday.

The discussion is quickly becoming about his replacement.

The likely temporary replacement for Gonzales is Solicitor General Paul Clement, who would take over until a permanent replacement is found, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

One name that has popped up is DHS chairman Michael Chertoff. (h/t: Sister Toldjah)

I agree with many on the right who are of the opinion that Gonzales needed to go, not due to any illegality in the US Attorney firings, but because of the way he handled that situation and others. Captain Ed:

No one did anything illegal in terminating the federal prosecutors, but Gonzales and his team made it into a royal botch-up anyway. Gonzales really should have resigned after telling people publicly that the attorneys had performance issues when their reviews showed that they had performed well. That set off a series of statements that Gonzales had to retract or clarify, including some in Senate testimony that made him appear as though he hardly had anything to do with running the Department of Justice.

Similarly, see Brian’s addition to the Liberty Pundit post linked below.

As for the effect this will have on the current investigation-happy Congress, Don Surber has the perfect line — and response:

Following the departure of Karl Rove, this clears the deck for the Democratic Congress to drop its incessant investigations of the Bush administration — and legislate instead of investigate.

Not that they will. [T]here is a bloodlust in the hearts of Democrats to punish George Bush and his staff. This goes beyond anger and is a way of intimidating people from joining a Republican administration.

A news conference is scheduled for 10:30 (EDT).

Others Blogging:
Liberty Pundit
Wizbang
Michelle Malkin